Presented by Lowepro. Talking Culture Symposium's theme for the 2012 Festival is 'Crossing Borders', an exploration through photography of the insidious underside of globalisation. While the internationalisation of production and 'free trade' of goods, money, people and technology across borders has undoubtedly brought many benefits, the unequal economic power relations between countries means globalisation has also relied upon the exploitation of resources and people in developing nations for the benefit of the developed world. The duplicitous nature of globalisation is such that wealthy nations embrace internationalisation by welcoming inexpensively produced goods for consumption and cheap labour for jobs that can't be filled, while on the other hand renouncing and making clear the boundaries and limits to internationalism through tough immigration laws for refugees and economic migrants seeking escape from conflict, oppression and poverty. In addition, globalisation's official crossing of borders of people and production is mirrored in and, according to Gargi Bhattachryya, dependent upon illicit networks of trafficked people, money, drugs and arms in a multi-million-dollar illegal economy. The 'free trade' ideal has become an "illogical and ideological obsession where market overrides any concern for human welfare or social impact".

Our four presenters today will engage with the 'crossing borders' theme from a variety of approaches and nations. New Zealand 's Nicki Denholm has been a human rights photographer for 20 years and has documented drug trafficking prisoners in Bolivia and Peru, the migration of African refugees to New Zealand, and internally displaced people within the refugee camps of Northern Somalia. Italy's Alfredo Bini has photographed African economic migrants crossing the Tenere Desert in a bid to make it to Europe. The UK's Matt Daw, project manager for PhotoVoice will discuss See It Our Way, a photography project involving young people from Eastern Europe and the Middle East affected by sex and child labour trafficking. And New Zealand's Bruce Connew discusses his photographs over 7 years of an Indo-Fijian community for Stopover - a story of migration.

Copyright - Rodolf - Albania (World Vision/Photo Voice)

This is where the most vulnerable families in our neighbourhood live. The river often floods taking away their few belongings. From the lack of money and poor conditions people become vulnerable to traffickers - Rodolf, Albania

A Somali mother with shrapnel wounds living in an internally displaced persons camp. Nikki Denholm.